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Butch Comegys / Staff Photographer
Steve Vacendak delivers the keynote address at the PIAA District 2 Conference held Wednesday night at the Patrick & Margaret DeNaples Center at the University of Scranton.

Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount punches a Boise State player during the postgame handshakes and it is caught by ESPN cameras.

University of New Mexico women's soccer player Elizabeth Lambert takes down a BYU opponent by yanking on her ponytail and the video is plastered on the Internet.

Texas A&M-Commerce football coach Guy Morriss made headlines last week for praising his players who stole copies of the school's newspaper because it featured a negative article about the team. Morriss called it "the best team-building exercise we have ever done."

With 24-hour sports networks, the Internet and social media such as YouTube and Facebook, it seems we are constantly bombarded with examples of poor sportsmanship.

It is enough to make someone like Steve Vacendak cringe.

"What is the incentive for a youngster to be a good sport?" he asks. "You don't get on ESPN for being a good sport."

However, the endless exposure can also help make Vacendak's job easier.

On Wednesday at the University of Scranton, the former Scranton Prep and Duke University basketball standout addressed administrators, athletic directors and coaches from 19 area school districts and six local colleges about sportsmanship. The workshop was co-sponsored by PIAA District 2 and the Bochicchio Sport Character Initiative.

Dr. Matt Davidson, a University of Scranton graduate and president for the Institute for Excellence & Ethics, also offered a presentation entitled "Developing Character FOR and FROM Sports."

Vacendak said it is important for young people to see examples via the media of poor sportsmanship and realize that is not the proper way to act.

"In many cases, young people can sense on their own that, hey, that's not the right way to do things. It reinforces what they've been taught at home by their parents or by their coaches," Vacendak said. "But left unaddressed, it is cause for concern."

Ask 100 people for their definition of sportsmanship and you are likely to get 100 different answers. That is why the key to teaching young athletes about good sportsmanship, according to Vacendak, is organization and commitment from school officials and coaches.

"It has to be about how the 75 people in this room can together touch another 750 so they can touch another 750," Vacendak said.

While examples of poor sportsmanship seem to garner all the attention, Vacendak said he does not feel as if he is fighting a losing battle.

He knows there is more good sportsmanship than bad out there and cites the recent Winter Olympic Games as an example.

"It was very important to hear the stories of the athletes and the sacrifices they have made to get to where they are," Vacendak said. "A large number of Olympic athletes are not professional and don't get paid. So there is an awareness that you get rewarded for the right reasons - an Olympic gold medal, pride, a great deal of happiness.

"I loved it when they showed the parents and relatives of the athletes. That's got to make young people say, 'I want to make my mom and dad happy.' "

Parents are also critical to teaching athletes about proper sportsmanship. During his speech Wednesday, Vacendak talked about the influence his parents, especially his father, had on him.

Stephen Vacendak Sr., a baker and owner of the Green Ridge Bake Shop, attended all his son's games in high school and would drive nine hours to Durham, N.C., for Duke home games on Saturday nights.

"My father didn't talk much," Vacendak said. "I can assure you that he did not and could not define sportsmanship. But if I ever did anything to violate his sense of it, a look from the big baker would take care of it."

Besides his involvement in athletics, Vacendak is also the executive director of "NC Beautiful," a nonprofit group that raises environmental awareness in North Carolina.

As he travels around the state, Vacendak will watch for individuals who litter. He said rarely does he see an adult throw so much as a cigarette butt from a car when a child is there because children have become "environmentally literate and sensitive" to things such as littering and recycling.

"So if we can do it with trash, we can do it with sportsmanship," Vacendak said.

Contact the writer: swalsh@timesshamrock.com

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